Method of making a lustrous fabric



March 30 1926.

A. GELBERT METHOD OF MAKING A LUSTROUS FABRIC Original Filed A'13ri1 29, 1921 Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

entree STATES ALFRED GELBERT, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIIS.

FATE

I METHOD OFYVMAKING .A LUST-ROUS FABRIC.

Application filed April 29, 1921,Serial m. 465,585. Renewed January 9, 1928.

To all whom it may concern-.- Be it known-that I, ALFRED go, Illinois, have invented certain new and is useful Improvements in Methods of Making a Lustrous Fabric; and IdoYhere-by declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thejinven'tion, such as will My invention relates tonne production of.

new and highly useful materials from cheap fabrics and tothenovel materials produced v in this manner. Viewed in-one general as-. 'p'ect; my lnventi'on alms-to provide a handsome, inexpensive, flexible, waterproof and ineombustible material adaptedfby its decided lustre to be usedin place of silkor of other expensive materials. Furthermore,

inventionaims to provide a simple'and, in-

expensive process for producing lustrous and more or less translucent materials of this kind, 'for'utili zing asthe basis for such materials cheapffabries such as cheese. cloth, voile, calico or lace; forpermitting'the applying of suitable ornamentation in any do- Usired colors to such a material at a'eertain stage during, the processof its manufacture,

.and for suitably Waterproofing'the resulting colored or ornamented material.

In another a'speet,.my"invention aimsto use some single and simple chem cal for Sl'? multaneously fireprooiing aji'abric and im-.

parting a lustre to the sameyand aims to treat the resulting fireproofed. materialin such a manner as simultaneously to Waterproof the same and to reduce at least a por- 7 tion of the fireprooling-material to acrystalline condition in which it will reiicctand refraet ,light in imitation of silks or. -the like. Moreover, my invention aimsto treat a pre riousl fireproof fabric with a solution -Wl1 ich will first dissolve atleast. a portion of the material with which the fabric was lireproofed and which will then solidity into a translucent coating holding crystallincs of the previously dissolved fireprooling innierialsuspended in the same.

, Still further and more detailed. objects will app'ear'from the following specification Gnnisnirr, citizen 07f the'United States, residing at Chicait aims to provide material of this kind em-' Which- Fig. '1 is an enlarged "cross-section of the initial cloth used' in producing one embodimentofmy invention, showing particlesof and from the accompanying drawings in crystalline form.

I Fig. "2 is a srmil arcrossI-section oi the "same cloth after it has been subjected to the treatment which saturates and coats it with gelatin andwhich 'c'onverts"the fireproofingmaterial into cry stals' incorporated in "the p gelatin.

Fig. is a section similar to' Fig. 2, showing the resulting lustrousmaterial as mount.- ed betweentwo "glass plates'fon use in imita tion of stained or inlaid glass.

' Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation o'f the imitation stained glass of Fig. 3,"'drawn on i a smaller scale;

Generally speaking,-

aceomplish important purposes of my invention by sat-" urating and coating the basic fabric 'witha ric has been impregnated with as material which Will be dissolved by the gelatin and which Willcrystallize Within the latter so as tofo'rm a large number of crystals incorpo solution of'gelatinor the like afterth'efabv rated in the gelatin When the latter solidi-- fies. For'e'xample, I may start by immersmg a piece of cheese 010 h or calico 1 in a solution composed of one ounce'ot calcium.

bromide "dissolved in aquart of either alcohol or water, allowing the cloth to dry after it has been well soaked .with this solution.

This impregnation in itself would render the cloth non-combustible without materially altering its appearance, as the fireproofing compound 2 Will be widely distributed over and through the cloth.

I then treatthe impregnated (fireproofedi cloth with a gelatinous solution, such as that composed of'tW-o ounces of gelatin and onehalf ounce of castor oil, dissolved in one quart. of hot Water.v This gelatinous solution may beapplied to the previously i1nprcgnated fabric either by immersing the latter in the same or by l'nushing the solu tion upon the cloth. In eithercasc, the cloth i's then allowed tojdry, so as to permit the gelatin tojharden into a transh'icent and more or less transparent coating 3 through which the :tabr e may be discerned. During the treatment of the cloth in thishot gelatinous solution the (calcium bromide, with which the cloth had been previously impregnated is dissolved in this solution, but 5 remains in substantially the same uniform distribution as that which it previously occupied ,and would therefore remain distributed over the cloth when the solution evaporates.

variously directed crystals t, thereby im'- partihg a sparklingor lustrous efiect notfound in ordinary gelatin-coated fabrics and in many ways resembling the lustre of silk.

' "If the resulting fabric is to be used for picture, window or sign effects the initially 1m regnated cloth 'is' desirably stretched on a rame after it has been dipped into the bromide solution and "is allowed to dry on this .frame.

surface to which'any desired picture, wording or other artistic effect may be applied either with a brushyor by some imprinting process. For example, any desired picture 'may be painted on the surface of the gelatinous coatinginwater colors, and by using transparent colors for this purpose, the color efi'ects will not interfere with the lus- 'trous effect due to the crystals which are incorporated in the gelatin. Dhen by apply-' ing a ,final coating of, transparent lacquer material waterproof, so as to avoid having the color efi'ects spoiled either by humidity in the air or by a washing ofthe finished material. For inlaid glass'efi'ects or the like I can proceed in a similar mannerto that above described, but desirably use non-transparent colors for the division lines between the niosaically' arranged pertions which correspond to'the differenticolors of the-glass .pieces'which I can readily imitate in this manner, that is to say, I employ transparent colors for the main glass effects 5 which are to be reproduced and employ non-trans However, owing to the .diifer-. ence between an ordinary aqueous solution Then the hot gelatinous solu-- tion is brushed over the impregnated and dried clothwhile still stretched and the entin-coated cloth is allowed to dry while on the frame, thereby aifording a well stretched or varnish, I can readily make the resulting parent colors for the division lines 6 which imitate the lead joints. In this case, I may also employ water colors, asthe final coating of varnish will readily prevent humidity from effecting the coloring. Then for imitation stained glass plates, I desirably enhance the resemblance still fur'ther by fmounting the resulting lustrous fabric between 21 pair of clear glass plates 7 as shown in Fig. 3. Y 9

However, 'while I have heretofore mentioned certain materials as desirable in the production of fabrics according to my invention, Ido not wish to be limited to the same, nor to the particular procedures above outlined. For example, other crystallizable salts, such as sodium bromide may be used for the initial impregnation, and the desirable flexibility may be imparted to the gelatin by some non-volatile oil other than castor oil, as for example rapeseed'oil. Likewise, the fabric. employed as the basic material may be greatly varied according to the nature of the desired product. voile, calico, laces or other textile materials may be used for producing handsome ef-v fects. Nor do I wish tobe limited to.- applying coloring with a brush, as this'may be imprinted on the same, thereby permitting the inexpensive production of such goods in large quantities. Neither do I wish to be limited to the use of the'resulting material for. picture, sign or window effects, as it can readily be employed also for screens, lamp shades and the like. Moreover, it can also be used for purposes where flexibilityis essential, as for example .for dress materials, window shades or the like. In other words, I aim in the appended claims to cover all mate- 195 rials and methods of manufacture which come within the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention: a

1, The process of producing a lustrous fabric which consists in treating an ordinary fabric with a solution of a crystal-' 'lizable salt,-dr ing the treated fabric, and

then treating t e dried fabric with a gelatinous solution.

\ 2-. The process of imparting lustre to a11 fabric which consists in treating the fabric with a solution of a crystallizable salt, dry

ing the treated fabric, and then treating the dried fabric with a gelatinous solution ineluding a non-vaporizing oil.

3.. The process of producing a lustrous and fireproof fabricwhich'consists in treating ordinary fabric with a solution of a fire- =pro0fing and crystallizable chemical, drying the treated fabric and thereafter treating the dried fabric with a hot gelatinous solution.

4. The process of producing lustre on a fabric which consists in' impregnating the fabric with a crystallizable salt in a noncrystalli-ne form and thereafter treating the Thus, 'I

impregnated fabric with a solvent for the said-salt which will .permit the salt to crystallize and which-;will form a translucent coating over the reslilting crystals.

5. The process of producing lustre on fahric which 'c0f1sists"in impregnating the fabric with a crystallizable salt in anoncrystalline iorm, treating the impregnated fabric with a hot gelatinous solution and 10 drying the resulting gelatin coated iabrie.

6. The process f producing lustre on a fabric which consists in impregnating the fabric with a crystallizable salt in a noncrystalline'form, and treating the impregnated" fabric with an air-drying coating adapted to dissolve the impregnating material under conditions whichwill cause the said solved material to crystallize within the said coating during the" drying of the latter.

Signed at Chicag0,'April 21st, 1921.

' vALFRED GELBERT. 

